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Technologies |
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MAXIS 3-PHASE SEPARATION UNIT |
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DESCRIPTION |
| GENOIL has developed a “state of the art” hydrocyclone designed specifically for oily water
treatment. The highly efficient design was initiated in 1993 and is the result of an extensive
development program incorporating numerous successful field trials and field installations. An
advantage of the Genoil Maxis design is the simplified oil path, which flows from the
hydrocyclone body directly into the oil chamber of the hydrocyclone vessel. This design
reduces the susceptibility of the oil path to becoming blocked as a result of small orifice
diameter and allows separation to take place at the relatively low operating pressures at most
oil treating facilities. The internal geometry is specifically designed to maximize the
separation efficiency over a wide range of available differential pressures, thus providing high
turndown capacities as compared with conventional hydrocyclone designs.
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3D DRAWINGS |
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The Maxis Hydrocyclone Pressure Vessel contains three (3) separate fluid chambers:
1.) Inlet chamber
2.) Clean water (underflow) chamber
3.) Oil outlet (overflow) chamber.
Each pressure vessel contains a plurality of hydrocyclone separators, normally organized in a
parallel tube arrangement to permit the incoming flow to be equally distributed throughout the
entire tube bundle for differing inlet fluid flow volumes and fluid property characteristics.
Degassed inlet feed is fed into the hydrocyclone pressure vessel inlet chamber. From this
section fluid enters the Maxis hydrocyclone tube bundle section via openings located at the
inlet end of each hydrocyclone tube bundle. As the liquid moves through the hydrocyclone
tube bundle length, the higher density water phase droplets migrate to the outer diameter of the
tube body and are temporarily stored in the underflow section of the pressure vessel typically
located in the central length section of the horizontal pressure vessel.
Consequently the lower density oil enriched phase oil droplets are forced inward to the center
core of the tube body and once at the end of the tube length are removed from the center of the
hydrocyclone tube diameter through an exit orifice as the oil phase into what is referred to as
the overflow section of the horizontal pressure vessel typically located at the end of the vessel
length.
Hydrocyclone technology is not new. It is used extensively on offshore platforms around the
world as a deoiler. But an innovative and breakthrough design developed by Genoil Inc. is
poised to take this technology to another level, and it could become the next generation of crude
oil separation. Not only is the Genoil inlet separation system extremely effective—reducing
water volumes by 50% to 80% and increasing battery treating capacity in the process—it is very
simple to install and use.
“Our system operates in place of a freewater knockout and can also be used as a water clean-up
method for new and existing installations,” explains Paul Costinel, COO of Genoil. “The
flexibility of the equipment gives it a wide range of applications in this industry. We are
positioned to influence a change in direction in the way that oil producing facilities handle large
amounts of inlet fluids in high water cut areas. Our system is designed with durable corrosive
resistant components and can perform inlet separations in a wide variety of emulsions and
substantially reduce the inlet flow volume to the oil treating system.”
The freewater knock out process, the industry standard for reducing the water content of
conventional and heavy oil prior to oil treating, is becoming more expensive and less effective.
Genoil’s inlet separation system, which uses centrifugal force to cause separation is perfectly
suited for these water conditions. With the increased emphasis on settling volumes, conventional
separation systems have become very large and costly with increases in water flow. These large
water volumes have a negative impact on oil treating system’s ability to provide clean water at
the outlet is affected by changes in oil/water ratios, normally compromising oil treating capacity.
“Horizontally drilled wells, aging reservoirs and water flooding techniques contribute to these
increased water volumes,” Costinel explains.
“A process, such as ours, which addresses
the environmental concerns while handling large volumes of water and is also capable of
cleaning this water to acceptable quality standards, is particularly desirable.”
Other separation principles are based on Stoke’s Law, which states that through time an
emulsion of oil and water will separate with the force of gravity. This is also based on mass
(droplet size) and the proportional density difference between oil and water which governs
velocity. Consequently, lighter fluids rise to the top and the heavier fluids fall to the bottom, but
residence time is important and normally heat and chemicals are added to accelerate emulsion
separation, in medium and heavy oil production.
This is not the case for the Genoil system which has no moving parts and only takes about two
seconds to separate water from oil, with the processed water being of very high quality. A wide
range of single, two and three-stage systems are available to handle flows from 20 m3/d to
15,000 m3/d. |
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PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM |
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SPECIFICATIONS |
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MAXIS Dewatering Performance
- For Medium to Light (18-30 °API) Crude containing 80% or more H2O Outlet Water Qualities aretypically in the range of 40 to 70 ppm
- For Light Crude (+30 °API) containing 80% or more H2O Outlet Water Qualities are typically less than 20 ppm
- Additional passes can reduce the Oil in Water content to TRACE (< 5 ppm) amounts
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MAIN FEATURES AND BENEFITS |
Innovative Design
- Specialized inlet device
- Simplified oil path
- Removable orifices
- Gas handling capability
- Single or multi stage
- Patented technology
- Available in Single or Multi-Unit Modules for Field Installation, Maritime Platforms, Industrial Wastewater Treatment or Refineries
No Process Heat Required
- Efficient separation at ambient inlet conditions, offering significant operating savings
- No added thermal energy in order to perform liquid/liquid separations
- Lower thermal requirements is lower NOX emissions
No Chemicals Required
- Separation performed without chemical additives
Compact
- No moving parts
- Small diameter pressure vessel
- Minimal footprint
- Horizontal orientation
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Low Operation & Differential Pressures
- Process driven by existing system energy
- Differential pressures ranging from 0.25 bar (3.5 psi) to 0.75 bar (10 psi)
Removable Orifices
- Adjustable to varying production volumes and oil concentrations
- Adaptable to variable inlet flow rates
Removable Tube Cartridges
- Adaptable to variable inlet flow rates
- Quick maintenance and inspection
High Capacity
- Offers the benefits of cyclonic action versus gravity settling
- Capacities range from 50 bbl/day to 500,000 bbl/day
Field Tested & Proven
- In advanced oilfield separation applications
- In water cleanup applications
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APPLICATIONS |
- Maxis is best utilized in dewatering flows located close to producing wells prior to Group Line transport or as an Inlet Separation (FWKO) means ahead of Oil Treaters
- In either application, dewatering using the Maxis technology is targeted at removing a minimum of 85% to 95% of free water volumes.
- This results in a significant reduction in fluid volumes to existing facilities.
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TESTIMONIALS |
“On September 7, 1996, HCO Energy Ltd. Purchased and installed a Maxis hydrocyclone in its Redwater
field for the purpose of increasing the existing oil battery’s water handling capability. The vessel was
designed for installation in series, ahead of the existing two FWKOs and treater so as to knock out up to
80% of the free water entering the facility (4000 +m3/day)…the hydrocyclone has worked very well. The
battery’s fluid handling capacity has increased as expected, and operations since then have run without
major problems…Field personnel were on site up to two weeks after its initial installation to ensure that
all start up hiccups were removed, and have followed up afterwards to ensure all is running well. Due to
its portability (complete package is skid mounted), HCO will in the near future be able to move the
hydrocyclone to a newer, more effective location to further increase our water handling capabilities, all
at a minimal cost. I would recommend the use of the Maxis hydrocyclone package to those looking to
increase an oil facilities production handling capabilities.”
Nick Rontongiannis, P. Eng.
HCO Energy Ltd.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
“JM Huber operates a crude oil processing facility in the Drayton Valley area of west central Alberta. It
became evident in 1996 that our group treater was pushing the envelope of its water handling capacity.
The high water volume combined with the difficulty of breaking the tight Cardium emulsion resulted in
poor quality water (1000 to 3000 ppm) being shipped to the injection plant. The paper thin operational
tolerance of the group treater under these conditions also resulted in frequent penalties levied on our
shipping tank by Pembina Pipeline for exceeding 0.5% BS&W content of our oil. Some form of free water
knock out was required at the battery inlet to alleviate the water loading on the group treater.
After considering various options it was decided to give the hydrocyclone design a try. The advantages
we found attractive were its large water handling capacity relative to the small size of the unit, the wide
operating range of the unit, no chemical required to produce clean water, low operating and maintenance
costs, and lower capital expense compared to a conventional unit. With respect to the hydrocyclone
design itself the big attribute is the low differential pressure at which the unit operates, thus preventing
unwanted precipitation of scale.
The hydrocyclone was installed between the inlet header and the group treater and commissioned the first
week of October 1996. All our Cardium production is being handled through the hydrocyclone with
approximately 550m3 water being removed and sent directly to the water tanks. The remaining 200 m3
water is sent with the oil to the group treater where it is removed conventionally. We are achieving water
quality off the cyclone of 50—100 ppm without the use of demulsifiers. The water quality off the group
treater has also improved dramatically to 100 to 160 ppm due to increased retention time. We have not
had a penalty on the shipping tank since the hydrocyclone went into service. The electronic
instrumentation package is user friendly and the operators quickly became proficient at operating the
unit. The hydrocyclone continues to operate smoothly and we are happy with its performance.”
W.L. Mrochuk
J.M Huber Canada Ltd. |
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